Genuine objects in wood
Artist statement:
The impact of matter
For over a decade, the presence of wood has defined Rayah Wauters’s studio. The material enters her practice through a close, personal source: her husband, an arborist, for whom the wood is a byproduct of his work. What is discarded in one context becomes central in another. This proximity to the life cycle of trees has shaped how Wauters understands and works with material, not as something neutral or abundant, but as something inherently valuable.
Trees, and nature more broadly, form a continuous source of inspiration. From an early stage, Wauters has been drawn to imagining objects that are intrinsically connected to the natural world and to questioning how design can engage with it responsibly. Rather than imposing form onto material, her work reflects a desire to contribute thoughtfully, asking how human intervention can support growth rather than depletion.
Wauters’s practice is guided by an ongoing reflection on how more can be achieved with less. She questions production driven solely by output and efficiency, and resists making for the sake of making. For her, an object does not only carry the intention of its maker, but also the history of the material itself; its origin, its transformation, and the impact its extraction has had on the environment.
Acknowledging that raw materials never come without cost is fundamental to her work. Every material choice leaves a trace, and this awareness informs both her process and the resulting objects. Through her practice, Wauters seeks to make this impact tangible, encouraging a renewed attention to material value and responsibility in design and making.
c Oona Smet
Material Engagement
Alongside her artistic practice, Rayah Wauters is the initiator of timbr.app, a platform dedicated to increasing the visibility and use of locally sourced wood. The project grew out of her long-standing engagement with material origin and availability, and her proximity to local wood streams through forestry and arboriculture.
Timbr functions as a knowledge platform for locally harvested wood, encouraging designers and makers to work with materials that are geographically close and transparently sourced. By connecting local wood suppliers with designers, the platform aims to reduce waste, shorten material chains, and promote a more responsible use of natural resources.
The initiative reflects the same concerns that underpin Wauters’s artistic work: material awareness, locality, and the impact of extraction. While timbr.app operates independently from her studio practice, both are driven by a shared commitment to working with wood in a conscious and context-aware way.
c Tijs Vervecken
c Renaat Nijs
Practice and process
Woodturning lies at the core of Rayah Wauters’s practice. Her engagement with the technique developed gradually, through hands-on learning from a retired master and sustained experimentation rather than formal prescription. What began as a practical encounter with the lathe evolved into a long-term exploration of how wood responds to repetitive movement, pressure, and time.
Working at the lathe allows Wauters to operate with focus and restraint. The rotational movement creates a steady rhythm in which small, precise gestures accumulate into surface and form. Rather than working toward a predetermined result, she allows the process to unfold through close attention to the material, adjusting her actions in response to its behavior.
c Renaat Nijs
A self-devised woodturning technique
Over time, this way of working led to the development of a self-devised woodturning technique. Through a specific, repeated movement of the chisel, Wauters shapes hair-like fibers directly from the wood, millimeter by millimeter. The fibers remain materially connected to the surface and are formed through controlled, deliberate gestures rather than removed as waste.
The technique emerged from a technical error and was refined over four years of focused experimentation. During this period, Wauters developed custom tools and an adapted clamping system to gain full control over the movement and the resulting surface. While the process is repeatable, each outcome remains closely tied to the specific properties of the wood and the conditions under which it is made.
Through this approach, woodturning becomes a way of constructing surface rather than finishing form. The resulting objects foreground tactility, material presence, and the visible traces of making, inviting close, physical engagement.
c Tijs Vervecken
Rayah Wauters is seeking long-term gallery representation focused on material research, craftsmanship, and artistic development.
c Tijs Vervecken
